Lowrance HDS vs Hummingbird side view

I stopped at the Cabelas store in Hamburg Pa on the way back home from the holidays. They had a Lowrance hds10 with the side search right next to the hummingbird side view 10". I had the salesman give a demo on both, needless to say a group of other fisherman gathered and a million questions were shot at him on both units. The Lowarnce package was approx. $300 more but for my money IMHO the Lowrance smokes the hummingbird in clarity, graphics. ease of use, and definition. One thing that I thought was another plus was you can or have purchased a HDS recently you can add the side search to it for $595 in loo of buying a complete new system at one shot. The more I watched the demo and heard the barage of questions on both units, I couldn't help but to inquire on the more features of the Lowrance. It's loaded with lowrances version of navionics but also navionics compatable (didn't quite understand that).
It was well worth the almost hr viewing the 2 side by side and getting a better understanding.

FYI: Humminbird will have the down-imaging also via a FREE software upgrade approx. Jan 15th.

I think it is a good thing to have two competing products on the market now. It should result in future product enhancements of both units due to competition for market share.

Not sure the Lowrances are easier to use or more intuitive. I do think though that the Lowrances are a bit flimsy, lots of problems with the bezel coming loose around the soft keys. There were water-intrusion issues also in the earlier days of production. They are supposed to have fixed those issues now but beware of internet purchases as you might get one of the older problem units.

The Humminbird is a sturdier unit in my opinion and has been around long enough to work out the bugs.

Both are good units and it will be interesting to see how the Lowrance units stack up in the long run.

I have been saving cash for a new structure scan unit. Not sure what brand I'm going with yet. One question I have is.
Is one unit easier to remove from the boat vs. the other. If I spend that kind of money I'm proly gonna what to take it off when not in use. Friend of mine has a 997 on a Ram mount but not sure what it involves to remove it ?

I have been saving cash for a new structure scan unit. Not sure what brand I'm going with yet. One question I have is.
Is one unit easier to remove from the boat vs. the other. If I spend that kind of money I'm proly gonna what to take it off when not in use. Friend of mine has a 997 on a Ram mount but not sure what it involves to remove it ?

When trying to make up your mind on the two companies, be sure and take in some reviews on customer service and warranties. You can have the best unit out there and not have customer service, when it acts up, and you might have nothing.